Chaos at Pocono leaves Chase hopefuls in the wall
Pocono Raceway delivered a brutal afternoon for those hunting for a Chase spot, as a Stage 2 wreck decimated the field on the frontstretch. It all started three-wide off Turn 3 when Shane van Gisbergen and Josh Berry made contact, drawing Austin Hill into the fray and sending the Wood Brothers Racing Ford of the No. 21 into the wall. The resulting chain reaction was absolute madness, pulling Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, and Noah Gragson into a mess that changed everything.
The damage was extensive. The Team Penske Ford of Logano clipped Wallace’s 23XI Racing Toyota, which then left the RFK Racing Ford of Keselowski with nowhere to go but straight into the side of the No. 23. While Keselowski and Gragson were forced behind the wall—finishing 38th and 35th respectively—others managed to scramble on. Bell fought back to nearly steal the win on fuel strategy before running out on the final lap, finishing 26th. It is heartbreaking to see a race turn on such a chaotic moment.
“These guys run really stupid races where they’re like three wide on Lap 5 in a race where strategy is going to re-shuffle the field three more times,” Keselowski said. The fallout is significant: Keselowski has dropped to 17th, falling out of The Chase entirely, while Wallace has slipped to 13th. With the pack bunched up and nerves fraying, the pressure heading into next Sunday is immense.
